NASA News

Four astronauts are busy training for Artemis II, the first mission to carry humans on NASA’s powerful SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft, testing systems to support life in deep space on future Moon missions and expanding the space frontier beyond Earth orbit. In August, the crew – NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor …

As NASA plans long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars, a key challenge is figuring out how to feed crews during their weeks, months, and even years in space. Food for crews aboard the International Space Station is primarily prepackaged, requires regular resupply deliveries aboard cargo spacecraft, and degrades in quality and nutrition. But what if astronauts …

Wherever there are humans, there are microbes, too. Bacteria and fungi live all around us, in our homes, offices, industrial areas, the outdoors – even in space. People literally could not live without these tiny organisms, many of which are beneficial. The trick is limiting potentially harmful ones, particularly in a contained environment such as …

Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is the latest satellite contributing to a 30-year sea level record that researchers are using to compare this year’s El Niño with those of the past. Not all El Niño events are created equal. Their impacts vary widely, and satellites like the U.S.-European Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich help anticipate those impacts on a …

A team of engineers from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and Honeybee Robotics in Altadena, California, inspect TRIDENT – short for The Regolith Ice Drill for Exploring New Terrain – shortly after its arrival at the integration and test facility. In the coming months, the team will integrate the drill into NASA’s first robotic …

After 10 months flying in space, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) – the world’s first planetary defense technology demonstration – successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, September 26 at 7:14 p.m. EDT. as the world’s first attempt to move an asteroid in space. Over the coming weeks, ground based observatories around the world …

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger’s STS-8 mission, former astronaut Dr. Guion “Guy” Bluford, the first African American to fly in space, discussed his historic flight at Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland on Aug. 28. NASA Chief Historian Brian Odom moderated a panel discussion about Bluford’s experience and how …

NASA and industry partners Aerojet Rocketdyne and Boeing have installed all four RS-25 engines onto the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket core stage for the agency’s Artemis II mission, signaling the core stage is nearing completion. Once complete, the core stage will be shipped to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, is the lead contractor and Boeing is the core stage lead contractor.

The International Academy of Astronautics has awarded its 2023 Laurels for Team Achievement award to the international team that supported NASA’s Artemis I mission. The academy presented the award Oct. 1 during their Academy Day program, taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, for extraordinary performance and achievement by a team of scientists, engineers, technicians, and managers …